The present invention relates generally to systems for generating and validating service manual instructions. More specifically, the invention relates to computer implemented methods and systems for enabling automated generation and validation of service manual instructions and for enabling delivery to field service personnel for the maintenance and service of products or machines in the field.
A major cost in the life cycle of technical information for a machine, product or piece of equipment is the creation of service and maintenance instructions from engineering data, as well as the additional costs associated with the validation and verification of the instructions.
Typically, the current process for developing documentation for a new product or machine includes developing assembly drawings for every step of the assembly process. From these drawings and other source data (photographs, engineering drawings, CIDs, etc.) an illustrated parts catalogue (IPC) is developed. For example, the IPC for a jet engine is a complete set of exploded views, starting at one end of the engine (fan) and taking off parts all the way down. The catalogue is then used to create new assembly and disassembly instructions. The shop manuals include information down to the piece part, while the maintenance manuals generally describe maintenance that can be done while the product is assembled and in service in the field. Typically, the art for the engine and maintenance manuals is taken directly from the IPC. On the average, both books have an illustration every fourth page.
The previous description is a best-case scenario. Usually there are time constraints for getting the new product or machine to the field, and the documentation must go along with it. Therefore, the assembly and disassembly are written without the IPC, resulting in a manual with omissions and mistakes. Often, multiple revisions are made, which can take a year or more typically, before the manual has the correct IPC numbers and sequence of instruction.
With any new product, there are typically design changes in the first year or two. This xe2x80x9creal life beta testxe2x80x9d generates a lot of manual changes as well. Generally, many resources are spent on revisions. Many service bulletins, usually in the form of written notices, are issued to make changes and improvements. Field service personnel are often required to perform service or maintenance using a variety of reference sources and as the field service personnel discover improved maintenance task sequences, there is generally no effective feedback process to improve the maintenance documentation. Additionally, training of field service personnel is similarly affected in that training often uses the same maintenance documentation and manual changes.
Additionally, training of field service personnel is generally performed by taking the equipment out of service for training purposes. In the cases of military and medical equipment, making the equipment available for training means the equipment is out of service for its intended use, since limited quantities of the military and medical equipment are generally present at a particular field site. Thus, training becomes inconvenient and costly.
There is a need for a computer-implemented method and system for generating and delivering maintenance and service instructions for use in field service maintenance and training of field service personnel. What is further needed is a method and system for verifying and validating the instructions, such as in a computer enabled or virtual environment.
The present invention provides, in a first aspect, a computer implemented method for enabling field service of machines and training of field service personnel. The method comprises the steps of generating at least one validated sequence of instructions for at least one maintenance task and delivering the at least one validated sequence for use in performing the at least one maintenance task.
In a second aspect, a system for enabling field service of machines and training of field service personnel is provided. The system comprises an engineering data generating device adapted to compute and provide engineering data relating to the machines, a service sequence generating device adapted to import and process the engineering data to generate at least one sequence of events for at least one maintenance task, an automated task order generating device adapted to convert the events into natural language instructions for use in the at least one maintenance task, a validating device adapted to verify the sequence of events and the natural language instructions and, a delivering device adapted to deliver the natural language instructions to the field service personnel.